Prepaid cards are very popular among underbanked people, who don’t trust big financial institutions. These prepaid debit cards are easy to obtain and easy to use. While traditional banks can reject your application for their checking account, prepaid cards are available to everyone.

You can easily apply for a prepaid debit card from your home and save a few bucks, but you’ll have to wait a couple of weeks to receive the card in mail. On the other hand, if you need a prepaid card immediately and cannot wait a couple of weeks, then you can buy a prepaid card in a retail store. It will cost you a fee around $5.

How to find such a retail store? There are two ways.

First way is to go outside and look for a Walmart, 7-Eleven, Walgreens, CVS. These stores are present in almost all states, so you must bump into one of them if you are in a big city. But you may want to be sure to find it quickly and not take chances.

Second way is to go online. How to find the best debit card? Here are a few sources, where you can purchase a Prepaid Debit card like Netspend, Go2Bank and some other cards.

Go to the Go2Bank website and find a store by your location. You can enter a ZIP code so that it will find the nearest one. For a ZIP code 90004 in Los Angeles it finds few locations. Alternatively you can allow it to use your location and find a place to buy a prepaid debit card near you.

You can also go to Netspend website and use their location finder. You can enter city names like San Diego and find dozens of locations. All you need is your location and they’ll show your nearest retail location.

When you are going to buy a prepaid debit card it is important to ask yourself. Do I really need it immediately or do I want it? Chances are you can wait a couple of weeks and save $5. You can go even further and earn a $100 signup bonus if you apply for a Chime Debit card using promo code. With your first salary you may get the bonus. As an alternative, you can get a Current Debit Card and receive a $50 bonus. Check my referral links below or send them to your friend.

Chime Bank $100
Varo Bank $50
Go2Bank $50
Use code “IAROSLAK556” when you enroll in Current Bank and receive $50

American Express Bluebird prepaid card is one of the few debit cards that has some valuable benefits. The card has advantages and disadvantages. It means Bluebird prepaid card may be good for some people and others may have to choose some other card. For example, if you often visit Walmart, the card can bring you some benefits, but if you often go to some other store like Walgreens or CVS Chime or Capital One are better choices. At the same time, if you more often earn cash than spend it, your choice may be different.

Amex Bluebird has no minimum balance, no monthly fees, and no annual fees. So you can keep it as a secondary card and not to worry that you qualify for waiver.

You can apply for the card online or purchase a temporary one for $5 at a retail store. Then you should receive a permanent card in mail within 10 business days. It is 2 weeks. If you need the Bluebird card sooner, you can order expedited shipping in 4 business days. It will cost you $20. When you receive your permanent BlueBird card you have to activate it. Here is how to do it.

To add funds you can set up a direct deposit of your salary to your Bluebird prepaid card. All you need is to provide a Bluebird prepaid card routing number and account number to your employer. You can find these numbers in the My Profile section of your online account. Here is video instruction

If you set up direct deposit, make sure you don’t receive more than $100,000 per year. This is rather unusual limit.

Bluebird prepaid card is a good choice if you often shop at Walmart and even if you just have one nearby. You can add cash up to for free at Walmart and at other stores it can cost you up to $3.95. The deposit is limited to $1,999 per day at Walmart after you verify the email. And monthly limit is $5,000.

Another way to add funds is mobile check capture via Ingo Money. This is limited to $5,000 per day and $10,000 per month.

Bluebird prepaid card gives you access to a fee free network of ATMs where you can withdraw up to $750 per day. The network is called MoneyPass and it has more than 30,000 ATMs. But it cost $2.50 to withdraw money at an out of network ATM.

If you want more ways to withdraw cash, Bluebird has a feature called “Cash Pickup powered by Ria”. There is a fee for withdrawal, it is $3 for up to $500, $6 per $500 up to $1,000. Amounts from $1,000 to $2,900 cost $9. Also Bluebird prepaid cards have other limits. For example, your purchases using the card are limited to $15,000 per month.

It is worth mentioning that Bluebird account balance doesn’t earn any interest and there is no linked savings account. At the same time some banks have checking accounts that pay small interest. In this context Bluebird doesn’t look great.

Overall Bluebird debit card is fine if you often visit Walmart and don’t have much money. However, even in this case there are many better cards and bank accounts.

Check my review of Bluebird debit card

Charles Schwab is most known for its brokerage account where you can invest money and keep your retirement savings. It also has a Debit Card with High Yield Investor Checking account. So if you have a Schwab Brokerage account you should consider its Visa Platinum Debit Card.

The card has silver color and has no card number on the front side. However, it has a security chip and a contactless payments feature. If the point of sale has no contactless feature and security chip reader, you can still swipe it as an old style plastic.

To move money to Schwab account you can use one of the many ways to transfer money between banks. For example, you can use ACH transfer and send Zelle payments.

What are the benefits of Schwab Debit Card?

Beside having no minimum balance and no monthly or annual fees it pays above the average 0.45% APY on your checking balance.

The debit card has no foreign transaction fees, which makes it fine choice for travelers. However, I wouldn’t recommend using it to make purchases abroad and in the US. To spend money you should get a credit card.

You can write checks! A free checkbook is another nice benefit that Charles Schwab offers for owners of its checking account.

Does Schwab Checking have FDIC insurance? Yes. The FDIC protection is up to $250,000 included!

You can also receive your salary to the checking account. It has account number and routing number. Here is how to find your account number.

Customer support of Schwab high yield investor checking account is outstanding. I have never had to wait more than a couple of minutes on line. They almost immediately take my call. Bank Of America at the same time, can easily keep me on hold for 15 minutes straight.

Can I use the Debit Card to withdraw cash?

Debit cards are often called ATM cards. Because they allow you to withdraw cash from an ATM. Schwab ATM card gives you access to ATMs worldwide and rebates ATM fees. ATMs that are in MoneyPass, Plus, and Visa networks are not going to charge you any fees. And even if they mistakenly charge you, Charles Schwab is going to reimburse you.

The maximum you can withdraw per day is $1,000. The limit can be higher, if you meet certain conditions. Keep in mind that ATMs have their own limits. Also be aware, that your purchases are limited to $15,000.

How to add money to Schwab Checking Account?

You can deposit paper checks using mobile check deposit feature or mail the check. Daily deposit maximum is $100,000. Being able to deposit that amount in one day blows my mind.

Usually banks have much smaller limits on mobile deposits. The most generous limits of Ally Bank and PNC Banks are $50,000 per month.

Schwab Checking account makes $225 of the deposit available on the next business day. Large amounts over $5,525 should be available after 5 business days, which means a week.

There are other ways to add money to Schwab account. For example, you can setup direct deposit of salary or paycheck. ACH transfer from your external bank account works too.

You can link Schwab account to your other bank using Schwab account number and routing number. Then push money to Schwab from external bank. In this case money should be available after 2 business days.

Alternative is to link external bank account to Schwab and pull money. In this case transfer takes 4 business days as Schwab keeps an additional safety hold.

Does Schwab have any fees?

Apparently Charles Schwab earns very little on the investor checking account. Most probably this debit card is a complementary service to its primary business of brokerage commissions.

I was able to find only a few fees. Outgoing wire transfer fee of $25 which is less than many other banks. Another fee $15 is for expedited shipping of card replacement.

Does Schwab Debit Card support Zelle?

Yes, Schwab has integrated Zelle so you can send and receive money by phone or email. Do you want to know what it Zelle? It is a peer to peer payment system that was made by largest banks of the US and now majority of banks integrated it.

Sending and receiving money with Zelle makes Schwab account on par with other banks.

You should check my review of Charles Schwab debit card on YouTube!

Getting a Fidelity Debit Card with a checking account makes sense if you already have a Fidelity investing account and/or Fidelity Credit Card and really enjoy it. After all, combining financial services under a single financial institution might make your life so much easier.

What are the benefits of a Fidelity Debit Card?

This is a Visa debit card with chip for enhanced security protection and contactless feature, that allows you to pay with a tap.

You’ll receive the debit card in mail withing a couple of weeks after account opening. Before you can use it the card should be activated. Here is how to activate the card.

Fidelity cash management account is a high yield checking account that pays 1.19% APY on your balance. It is one of the highest interest paid by checking accounts. Other high yield checking accounts usually pay only 0.1%.

In addition to the high interest on your balance Fidelity offers $100 signup bonus. All you have to do is open new account using promo code Fidelity100 and deposit $50. Why am I so sure? I just got my bonus!

You can receive your salary or any other payments to your Fidelity checking account. It has account and routing numbers that your employer can use to send you a paycheck.

Keep in mind that Fidelity Debit Card has a foreign transaction fee of 1%. So it is not a good idea to take the debit card on a trip.

The debit card account has some limits.

Debit cards are also known as ATM cards because they allow you to withdraw cash from ATMs.

At what ATMs can you use your Fidelity ATM Card?

You can use any ATM in the world that has the Visa, Plus, or Star logo. Fidelity Cash Management Account reimburses all ATM fees, which is my favorite feature.

Other banks’ debit cards, such as Bank of America, Chase, and Wells Fargo, allow you to use only ATMs in their network. You will be charged an ATM fee at all other ATMs. A $3 fee is quite common.

What is the Fidelity ATM withdrawal limit?

You can withdraw up to $520 with up to 6 transactions. The withdrawal limit is close to industry average.

Can I overdraft my Fidelity account?

Yes. You can turn on overdraft protection so that as soon as your balance dips below $0 Fidelity can automatically transfer funds to Cash Management account. For this you need special Fidelity funding account. Usually it is a brokerage account.

Can I pay bills from a Fidelity Checking?

Yes, you can use the Fidelity checking account to pay bills and even send paper checks. Fidelity will issue a paper check in your name. There is no need for an envelope, stamps, or address writing.

All you have to do is add Payee and then bank should handle it on their own.

Does Fidelity Debit Card have any other benefits?

Extended warranty services for the first 90 days after purchase. I think this benefit is not very useful. Majority of retail stores in the US will accept your return without any questions anyway.

Travel and emergency assistance is a nice thing, but a very common one. Almost all Visa cards offer it by default.

Travel Accident Insurance is also widespread among good credit cards. For a debit card this perk is rather unusual.

Auto rental collision damage waiver can save you some money when you rent a car. It is also very common benefit.

Keeping in mind all these benefits, I would strongly recommend not using your debit card for any kind of purchases. Since merchants and service providers often put a hold on funds in your card you may find that significant part of your account balance is frozen.

Other than that, Fidelity Cash Management has no minimum balance, no account fees and has FDIC insurance up to one million dollars of your balance.

When you transfer money to Fidelity Brokerage account it takes time for cash to settle.